Powder puff and method of making same



Aug. 15, 1939. G. LAITMAN POWDER PUFF AND METHOD OF MAKING SAIE Filed Aug. 4, 1958 ....Lln

lNvENToR 'earge mi man BY ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POWDER PUFF AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME George Laitman, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application August 4, 1938, Serial No. 222,981 9 Claims. (Cl. 132-785) This invention relates to improvements in the them together near their peripheries as to leave manufacture of powder puffs. a small opening, whereafter the casing is reversed The most common material of which powder through the opening, a pad inserted, and the puffs are ordinarily made is a pile fabric, such edges forming the opening sewed by hand. There as plush. In the conventional manufacturing is thus a necessity for both hand and machine process, two blanks of this material, of symmetrisewing; and although a greater marginal allowcal shape, are placed face to face, generally beance of material is required for hand sewing than tween two metal plates or templates, and are then for machine sewing, the conventional methods sewed together by machine around their edges, always allow the greater margin around the en- 10 except for a small portion which is later sewed tire blank, to facilitate the hand sewing opera- ,L by hand, thereby leaving at the unsewn portion a tion. With my invention, the only portion that small opening for a subsequent reversing operais hand sewn is clearly defined, so that only at tion. It frequently happens that when the that portion need there be a relatively large inarblanks are held together between the said plates gin, the major portion of each blank requiring for the sewing operation, there occurs a relative only the relatively narrow margin necessary for E 3 slipping between the blanks, due to the smooth machine sewing. When powder puffs are protexture of the material, the extent of the slippage duced on an extensive basis, the saving in matebeing at times suflicient to cause some of the rial thus effected is considerable. machine made stitches to miss a portion of a In conventional methods where there is no displaced blank, to consequently result in a puff guide for the operator, there is no uniformity in with unsewed portions around the edges thereof. the size of the said openings (through which the 20 Sometimes this causes the stitches to be so close aforesaid reversing operations are effected), reto one edge of the displaced blank that later, in sulting in variable stresses applied to the puffs actual use, a tear appears on a frayed edge of during the reversing operations. This not only the puff. It is hence one of my objects to correct tends at times to cause a ripping open of stitches, 25

the aforesaid shortcomings by preventing any but frequently results in mutilated or distorted substantial relative movement of the blanks durpuffs. And furthermore, with openings of varing the sewing ope1'ation,-a result which I acious sizes, the tempo of the hand sewer is obvicomplish by arranging and maintaining the ously disrupted. It is a further object of my blanks with their respective warps and wefts in invention to overcome the aforesaid defects, an 30 parallel and interlocking relation, in this manner objective which I attain by providing all the increasing the frictional resistance against moveblanks with the aforesaid lips of uniform widths.

ment. And it is another object of my invention Other objects, features and advantages will to enable the blanks to be readily and quickly appear from the drawing and the description arranged in their said relative positions, a step hereinafter given. 35

which I accomplish by cutting all the blanks Referring to the drawing, with protruding lips as guiding means to effect Figure l is a perspective view of a finished the desired positioning, as will be more fully herepowder puff of circular shape produced by the inafter described. method of my invention. In this aspect of my invention, the two said con- Figure 2 is a sectional elevation along line 2 2 40 tiguous blanks also afford equal resistance against of Figure 1. distortion under the stresses of the reversing and Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of filling operations, inasmuch as the resiliency of several layers of pile fabric from which blanks both blanks is substantially the same in all direcare to be cut, the dot-dash lines designating the tions because of the aforesaid parallel arrangeoutlines of said blanks, L, ment of the warps and wefts of the pile fabric. Figure 4 is a plan view of two blanks shaped In this manner not only is the danger of accidenaccording to the present invention, with a ribbon tal tearing of the stitches eliminated, but the therebetween, prior to the machine stitching further danger of producing asymmetrically operation, a portion of one of the blanks being shaped puffs is obviated,-the attainment of these removed to show part of the other blank and the 50 objectives being also within the contemplation ribbon. of my invention. Figure 5 is a plan view of the blanks and ribbon Another object of this invention is to economize of Figure 4 after the machine stitching operation on material. In most methods of manufacture, had been completed to form a casing.

a casing is formed from two blanks by so sewing Figure 6 is a plan view of the casing and ribbon 55 of Figure 5 after the reversing operation forming a step in my method, and

Figure l is a plan view of the casing of Figure 6 after the padding has been inserted and the lips tucked in in preparation for the hand stitching operation, a portion being removed for clarity.

In Figures l and 2 are shown a powder pui fabricated in accordance with the steps of my invention, the puit consisting of a casing I comprising two blanks II and I2 of pile fabric, the piles being on the outer surfaces in the finished article. The edge portions I3 are secured together by suitable stitching, and extend inwardly, as effected by certain of the steps of this invention. The form of powder puff illustrated contains a padding I4, and a ribbon I5 extending diametrically across one face of the puff, the terminal ends of said ribbon being secured to diametrically opposite inwardly extending edges of the blanks constituting the casing.

In practicing this invention, a plurality of pairs of sheets I6 are placed upon each other in layer formation, the two sheets constituting each pair being arranged with their piles I'E in facing relation, and with their respective warps and wefts in parallel relation. In relatively large sheets of fabric, such an arrangement is obviously a simple matter. Thereafter a plurality of blanks are cut out by conventional means such as by the use of dies and mallets, or by automatic means. Although it is within the contemplation of this invention to produce powder puffs of any desired configuration, for the purpose of this specification the method of forming circular puffs will be described.

It will be noted from an examination of Figure 3 and certain of the other subsequent figures, that each blank is substantially circular in configuration but contains in addition a short extension or lip. For example, in Figure 4 it will be seen that the upper blank I8 contains a lip I9 sown, in the form illustrated, as extending radially outwardly.

As will be noted from Figure 3, the most efficient and preferred method of cutting the blanks is such as to produce the least waste of material, the drawing indicating that the blanks are cut in rows, the lips being at an angle of 45 from the direction of said rows. It is thus apparent that all the lip portions I9 are cut from the space between two adjacent blanks, thereby enabling the waste material employed in this process to be reduced to a minimum.

In making a powder puff, two of the blanks cut from a pair of sheets are held together in preparation for the sewing operation, with their piles in facing engagement, and their warps and weits in parallel relation. Thus, as indicated in Figures 4 and 5, the two blanks I8 and 20 are maintained in perfect registry in preparation for the machine sewing operation, the warps 2I (illustrated as relatively heavy horizontal lines) and the wefts 22 (illustrated as relatively light vertical lines) of both of the blanks being parallel to each other. It is obvious that this relationship can definitely be established, and maintained, merely by keeping the lips I9 of both of the blanks in absolute registry, inasmuch as the .varps and wefts of all the sheets were originally parallel when the blanks were cut from the aforesaid layers of fabric. In the form illustrat-ed, the ribbon 23 is inserted between the two blanks, with the opposite portions slightly extending from the peripheral edges of the blank as indicated.

In the machine sewing operation, a substantially circular line of stitching 24 (see Figure 5) is produced by any conventional machine means, the margin 25 between the stitching and the peripheral edge of the two blanks being just enough for the machine sewing operation. Inasmuch as any conventional method of machine sewing may be employed to create the line of stitching 24, no such method need be described as it is well known in the art. It will be noted however that the said line of stitching 24 terminates at the lateral edges 26 and 21 of the lips I9, leaving an unsewed portion at the region of said lips. The product at this stage consists of a casing formed of two blanks, the pile surfaces being internally disposed, there being an opening between the two lips I9 of the blanks.

The machine sewing operation above described must of necessity require that all blanks I8 and 2B be maintained in fixed relative position with each other during the sewing operation. Inasmuch as the margin 25 should be very narrow to reduce wastage, any slippage between the two blanks IS and 2li during the said sewing operation might possibly cause an incomplete marginal attachment between the two blanks, as hereinabove set forth. But with the warps and wefts of the fabric parallel to each other, the fibers are in interlocking engagement, thereby affording a greater resistance against movement than would be the case if the smooth fibers of both blanks did not enmesh, but merely glided over each other. It is thus apparent that by producing and employing the lips I9, the danger of a displacement of one of the blanks with respect to the other during the machine sewing operation is reduced to a minimum.

The next step is the reversing operation, whereby the casing is turned inside out through the said opening between the two lips I9. In this manner the pile surface is disposed exteriorly, and the major marginal portions of' both blanks extend inwardly as clearly indicated in Flgure 6. At this point, should it be desired to empiey a ller or pad within the casing, that is readily inserted through the said opening between the lips I 9. It is of course understood that there are powder puffs without such inserts and in such event the insertion of the pad is obviously omitted without otherwise affecting the method of this invention.

In the completion of the steps of fabricating a powder puff in accordance with my invention, the lips I9 are tucked inwardly, as indicated in Figure 7, and then an operator closes said opening by hand-sewing in the stitches' substantially along dot-dash line 23. Inasmuch as said lips extend outwardly beyond the remaining peripheral pertions of the blanks, a greater margin is obviously provided for hand sewing, thereby enabling such operation to be efficiently performed without providing an excess margin, of equal extent, arcund the remaining peripheral portion of each blank where the machine stitching is performed.

Inasinuch as the portions to be machine-served and hand-sewed are well deiined by the lateral edges 26 and 2l' of the lips, no guess work is required in performing these steps of the method. The machine-sewed region is of predetermined extent, and the portion to be hand sewn is also of a given invariable width, so that uniform conditions prevail for all powder puffs produced by this method. Particularly in the hand sewing operation, an operator will become accustomed to sewing together openings of a fixed width, thereby being enabled to maintain a constant and invariable tempo. This obviously improves her eiciency and speed. And with an opening between the lips for all puffs of a uniform size, the stress applied during the inverting operation will at all times be substantially equal, inasmuch asI the person doing the reversing will encounter uniform conditions.

By means of the above described method, all the objectivesr hereinabove set forth can be readily obtained, to economically and efficiently produce powder puffs of various designs.

It is of course understood that other adaptations of the method can be employed beyond and in addition to those hereinbefore described, all within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a method of making powder puffs, the steps of providing two blanks of covering material each having a projecting lip thereon, placing said blanks together in facing relation and with the said lips in registry, fastening the blanks together at the peripheral portions thereof outside of the lips whereby a casing is formed with an opening between the said lips, and turning the casing inside out through said opening in preparation for finishing operations.

2, In a method of making powder puffs, the steps according to claim l, the said step of fastening the blanks together comprising the step of sewing said blanks together at the said peripheral portions thereof.

3. In a method of making powder puffs, the steps of providing a plurality of sheets of covering material, cutting out therefrom a plurality of blanks each having a projecting lip extending substantially radially therefrom, placing said blanks together in facing relation and with the said lips in registry, sewing the blanks together adjacent the peripheral edges thereof outside oi the region of the lips, whereby a casing is formed with an opening between the lips and a substantially small margin between the stitching and the remaining peripheral edges, and turning the casing inside out through said opening in preparation for finishing operations.

4. In a method of making powder puffs, the steps of providing a plurality of sheets of covering material, cutting out therefrom a plurality of adjacent substantially circular blanks each having projecting lip formed from that portion of its sheet between adjacent blanks, placing said blanks together in facing relation and with the said lips in registry, sewing the blanks together adjacent the peripheral edges thereof outside of the region of the lips, whereby a casing is formed with an opening between the lips and a substantially small margin between the stitching and the remaining peripheral edges, and turning the casing inside out through said opening in preparation for finishing operations.

5. In a method of making powder puffs, the steps of providing two blanks of covering material each having a projecting lip thereon, placing said blanks together in facing relation and with the said lips in registry, fastening the blanks together at the peripheral portions thereof outside of the lips whereby a casing is formed with an opening between the said lips, turning the casing inside out through said opening, inserting a pad into the casing through said opening, tucking the lips in through said opening, and securing the lips together.

6. In a method of making powder puffs, the steps of providing two blanks of pile fabric each having a projecting lip thereon, placing said blanks together in facing relation with the warps and wefts thereof in respective parallel relation and with said lips in registry, sewing the blanks together at the peripheral portions thereof outside of the lips whereby a casing is formed with an opening between the said lips, and turning the casing inside out through said opening in preparation for finishing operations.

7. In a method of making powder puffs, the steps of providing two blanks of pile fabric each having a projecting lip thereon, placing said blanks together in facing relation with the warps and wefts thereof in respective parallel relation and with said lips in registry, sewing the blanks together adjacent the peripheral edges thereof outside of the region of the lips, whereby a casing is formed with an opening between the lips and a substantially small margin between the stitching and the remaining peripheral edges, turning the casing inside out through said opening, inserting a pad into the casing through said opening, tuck-- ing the lips in through said opening, and securing the lips together.

8. In a powder puff, a casing comprising two blanks of material each having a projecting lip, the lips being bent inwardly into the casing and in registry and abutting engagement with each other, the peripheral portions of the blanks being sewed together throughout the entire extent thereof, the stitching being farther removed from the outer edges of the lips than from the remaining peripheral edges of the blanks.

9. In a powder puff, the combination according to claim 8, the two blanks being composed of pile fabric and so disposed with respect to each other that the warps and wefts thereof are in parallel relation.

GEORGE LAITMAN. 

